It’s hardly the case that a ‘case’ should have to be made for the most famous singer of the 19th century, a woman who so commanded her audiences that women cried out and men openly wept, a woman who was featured on the cover of more American sheet music than anyone else during the century, including Lincoln. In the 20th century we had the Beatles, a musical phenomenon who had howling, weeping followers lionize them. (more)

The Songs of Jenny Lind, The Daughter of the Regiment (1850), lithography by John Bufford